Close Your Eyes
by Matamelcan Hunter
Summary: Opal is a protector. She'd rather herself be hurt than others to be. She believes that the safety of others is more important than any one life, even her own. Blizz is a fighter. His heart lies with himself rather than the general he serves and the ones he guards. The Great Serpent, Gerathon, has been infecting the dreams of the both of them, and their friends.
1. Chapter 1 (Opal)

sat down at the huge dining table of Greenhaven castle. Hundreds, possibly thousands of Greencloaks sat at the table, eating the assortment of foods, ranging from venison to purple cauliflower to whale meat to many other strange foods. I had joined the Greencloak ranks a few days ago, after summoning Luna, my grey fox spirit animal. The Greencloaks are a group of people with the rare gift of summoning a spirit animal, an animal that a human is bonded to for life. Their job is to protect Erdas from all that may threaten it. And right now, that threat was the Conquerors, an army from the southern land of Steriol, who have developed a sort of imitation Nectar, which helps summon a spirit animal. This false nectar, called the Bile, allows one to have a guaranteed spirit animal... and also have it as their slave. I scanned my surroundings. There wasn't much organization to the feast; it appeared that the Greencloaks simply sat wherever they want to, but a huge man in a bright green cloak lined in golden threads sat at the front. He must be the leader, I thought. I haven't talked to Olvan or even seen him before. I had been eating in my room in the great castle, and was recruited by Tarik, who was not accompanied by Olvan. Unlike the Four Fallen and the Keeper, I wasn't of special importance and the general was simply too busy to be bothered with .  
Luna nuzzled my hand. I hadn't realized that she wasn't in passive state. Luna and I had already established a strong bond; I had gotten Luna into passive state only a day after the summoning. It was a bit of a pain, but I was pretty patient with animals. Not so much with people, though, since people are much more likely to scream insults at you and tell you what a terrible job you're doing. As I just about to hold out my arm to put Luna into passive state, she dashed off towards a group of younger Greencloaks.  
"Luna! What are you doing? Bad girl!" I called, murmuring polite "Excuse me"s and "Pardon me"s as I pushed past the masses of Bonded.  
Luna tore through the room, leaping over (and sometimes onto) tables of food, occasionally snapping up bits of meat of an unfortunate Marked's fork.  
"Come back, Luna!"  
Finally, Luna skidded to a stop and snapped at the spirit animal of a girl about my age, a rabbit. I shrieked in horror as the fox bit the rabbit's ear, causing it to bleed slightly.  
"LUNA!" I screamed. "Passive state!"  
I rolled up my sleeve, but Luna ignored me and continued chasing the rabbit. I noticed that the girl had begun shooing Luna, and seemed to be saying something. However, it was hard to hear over the hubbub of the dining hall and the growling and barking of the spirit animals.  
"Tellun's grace, I'm so sorry!" I shouted.  
The girl tackled Luna, the both of them snarling and kicking. I rushed over to the little grey fox.  
"Bad girl! Very bad! That was a spirit animal!" I told the fox. I gave Luna a couple swats to the muzzle. She sneezed playfully as if to say "What? I was just playing!"  
I rolled up her sleeve, which had soon fallen down (stupid gravity!) after rolling it up, and looked at Luna sternly. This time, Luna obliged and appeared as a tattoo just below my shoulder. Then, I pushed down the sleeve of my shirt again and looked at the girl.  
"I am so so sorry!" I said. There goes my chances of actually making friends here. I almost felt like crying. "This was her first time here! I didn't know that she would go on a rampage like that! If I had known I wouldn't have even come! So sorry! Really, really-"  
I was cut off by the girl. "Sheesh..." She said. She sounded slightly annoyed, and slightly amused. But not angry, which was a good sign. "She's fine. Just a little nick on her ear."  
I sighed with relief and started wiping off the drops of blood that had made it to the floor with an unused napkin. I was somewhat squeamish and my stomach felt a bit like it had hopped a tiny bit as she soaked up the droplets. The napkin was white, which made the absorbed blood all the more obvious and disgusting. I supposed that the napkin was... poetic? Yes, poetic, that was a good way to describe it. What was that poem? "His robes were not red, for that was the color of wine and blood...". While I was daydreaming about poetic napkins, the girl must've been talking, because then she asked, "So how about you?"  
I internally panicked. What was she asking? I just had to guess. "Um... I'm Opal."  
The girl cocked her head to the side. "I asked if you liked waffles."  
I sighed slightly and mentally facepalmed. I then made a note to physically facepalm once I got back to my room.  
"Oh... yeah, waffles are good." I said.  
The girl grinned. "Oh, that's nice, Tarik doesn't even know what a waffle is. Want to come sit with us over there?"  
She gestured to the group of young Greencloaks that Luna had charged at before the girl had gotten up to get something. I blushed slightly and nodded.  
"Yeah!" I said, smiling.  
Not a bad first impression, now was it?


	2. Chapter 2 (Blizz)

I viciously slashed my long sword at my instructor, he blocked it with his shield, I immediately whirled and smashed the blade into his sword, sending it flying from his hand. I proceeded to kick him in the stomach flooring him, and held my sword at his throat. My breathing was fast and ragged, sweat dripping off my brow.  
"Excellent, Blizz it is important to be able to fight without the aid of your spirit animal." I clasped his outstretched hand and pulled my mentor to his feet. For fourteen years of age, I was taller and stronger then many older Greencloaks.  
"Now we fight with the aid of are Spirit Animals"  
I summoned forth Japheth, my massive Akbash dog, from the northern Amaya, while my teacher brought out his iguana. We dueled until the breakfast bell rang, we had been training since before dawn.  
"Get some breakfast, Blizz, you deserve it. We'll meet at midday at the stables."  
I walked out of the training area, and down the twisting, winding halls of Greenhaven, I had walked these halls for more then a year. My feet guided me automatically towards the eating hall. My friend Plat waved me over to his table, their friends were seated their as well. A small smile cracked my usually serious expression. I sat inbetween Lotus and the before mentioned Plat, they were my two best friends, and the only ones I trusted. Plat was the shorter, with sandy hair and chameleon eyes, while Lotus was tall, olive skinned, dark haired and absolutely beautiful . Three others sat at the table.  
"How'd training go?" Lotus asked, grabbing a roll of bread, while Jade, her owl, gulped down meat on her shoulder. Plat's mischievous otter climbed onto the top of my head, nibbling on a piece of shrimp.  
"Good," I said briskly, putting several pieces of meat and bread onto my plate and tossing several to Japheth all the while wearing Dastan like a furry bobbing hat . Wrapping them efficiently into the bread I took a bit, and closed my eyes, as the taste of the smoky juicy meat, mixed in with the fine bread soaked into my mouth. I noticed a short girl with pale skin being escorted by Rabbit coming to are table. Removing Dastan from his perch and handing him to Plat, I finished off my small meal. I only ate until I wasn't hungry anymore, it kept me sharp and lean. I watched the girl intensely, assessing her, reading her.  
She had a demeanor of wanting to protect people, and there was hints of grief in the way her eyes darted around the room -nervousness- and in the way she clenched her hands, faint stress lines were visible on her face. Her wanting to protect someone stemmed from not being able to protect... Who? Her parents? Her siblings? Her friends? But there was courage in her face, and she stood straight and had a purposeful stride, she wasn't broken? She had pride.  
I continued turning the pages of her revealing layer after layer, learning surprises, everyone was a book to me. But she was interesting one. She noticed me staring at her, and I could tell that she was slightly curious and nervous to why I was. She ate very little food during the meal.  
Plat and I stood up as soon as the bell rang and headed to the Stables, meeting up with Edge, a short boy that was my age, a humming bird perched on his shoulder.  
We practiced shooting off horse back,(I always rode bareback) and fighting on it. Then after training was done we rode out into the middle of the forest, Lenori wanted us to bond with are spirit animals. So we had to sleep overnight in the forest.  
There is a fragrance in the forest. It does not come from a single plant. It does not come from the rich aroma of dark earth or the sweetness of fruit that has passed from merely ripe to mellow and rich. The scent was a combination of all these things, and of sunlight touching and awakening their essences and of a very slight wind that blended them all perfectly. That is what a forest smell liked to him. And that was one of many reasons why the Forest was his true home; not Greenhaven.  
There was little conversation among them as they set up tent, I sat upon the crumbly banks of a river, watching the crystal water pour over the smooth river bed. The sound of it was comforting to me. I stroked the fur of Japheth, who sat next to me, his head in his paws. I felt my eyes slowly start to close; and I didn't fight it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up from where I was, the forest was quiet, I propped myself up on my elbows looking around. Slowly, I stood up, my hand on my sword. I heard a rustling of fabric behind and I spun, ready to unsheathe my sword.  
I slowly lowered my hand from my sword and stared, almost mesmerized by the absolutely beautiful woman, swathed in a faint white glow.  
"Hello little one, my name is Athon." She smiled kindly. "What is your name?"  
The words almost sprang unbidden from my lips as if something was compelling me to obey this beautiful woman, I restrained myself at the last second.  
"That is my own to share when I _want_ to." For the briefest of moments anger seemed to flare in her slanted eyes. But her kind expression resumed, it must have been a figment of my imagination.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I came to warn you. The Greencloaks don't trust you. You are too dangerous and skilled and willful for them to control you like they do the others. They want to kill you to remove the threat of you. Don't trust them..." I had never trusted the Greencloaks and this information only fueled it.  
"But why have you come to warn me?" I asked.  
"Because you are someone who has great importance in the world, and the coming events..."  
A bright mist wafted through, obscuring her. When it cleared, she was gone...

I snapped awake, breathing deeply. I looked around wildly.  
"Was that dream real?" I muttered to myself.  
The forest was alive with sound, and there was no footprints where the woman had stood.  
Do the Greencloaks really want to kill me?


	3. Chapter 3 (Opal)

I walked towards the group of children. There were a few more kids- most older than me, one that actually seemed to be younger. My escort sat down next to a Euran-looking boy. I sat next to her, across from the younger looking girl.  
I got the feeling that someone was staring at me. A boy- possibly Niloan? Amayan? Possibly Zhongese? Hard to tell- was watching me intently as I sat down. He had black hair and green eyes- I remembered the rarity of green eyes. He didn't speak, even though at this point it should've been obvious that I had noticed him.  
"Who's she?" I heard a male voice ask.  
"Hey!" Someone else, a friendly female voice shouted at me.  
More such greetings commenced. But none from the strange black haired boy. I was so focused on pondering why this was that I had eaten barely anything by the time dinner was over.  
I got up from the table and went back to my room. I then released Luna from passive state. She happily jumped around, but, realizing the late time, walked over to my bed and jumped onto the foot of it. I sat up reading a fascinating story (that should probably not be explained at this point) for a while, and extinguished the lantern lighting my room. Then, I closed my eyes.

The room was dark. Not that this scared me- sometimes, I welcomed the dark. Dark is as necessary as light. But this darkness was just that- no light at all. I couldn't see a thing. It was... ominous, almost. I dropped on all fours and began crawling, so to feel my way around. However, only a couple feet from where I was standing, my hand didn't find a place to land. There was a drop. I found the edge and started sliding my hand against it. I appeared to be standing on a circular platform. I walked to what I at least thought was the center and stood up.  
It felt like I had been standing there for hours when lights came on.  
There was a massive flash of light- pure white light shining from all angles at blinding intensities. And blind me they did.  
I have no idea how long the lights were on. When I regained my vision, the lights had disappeared- all that was left were two glowing ovals. Black slits appeared in the center, like pupils of an eye. The lights locked on me. I realized that these were, in fact, eyes. I briefly thought about running, but realized that that was foolish, as I would just fall to my death anyway. So all I could do was stand there. The eyes approached me, giving off just enough light to see a huge, scaly body. It swayed back and forth in a slithering fashion. A snake.  
_Greetingssssss, little Guardian._ I heard it say. Although it could hardly be considered a voice, as the serpent's mouth did not move, and despite my attempts to block out the sound, it still rang through my head in a cold, eerie, somewhat feminine voice. _I don't sssssssupossse you know who I am._  
My head began to hurt. Why was this snake messing with me? Guardian?  
_No matter. I know who you are. I know everything, from your birth to your mother'sssssss death, to the friendssship you forged with that girl, to you joining the Greencloakssssssss, to your little fox attacking the rabbit._  
The headache had progressed to fun-blown migraine. I had begun seeing spots, not to mention the snake was seriously scaring me.  
The snake hissed- physically, this time. An image of my mother appeared. The serpent hissed again, and I watched in horror as the scenes of my mother's death played out in front of me- the Amayan officer approaching with the knife, my mother pressed against the wall of the police station, like mockery, saying that no one is going to help her. Then, he took the knife and began stabbing my mother. I tried to look away, but I couldn't. He stabbed her eight times- eight times! The first times he wasn't even trying to kill her. He was aiming the blows at her limbs- torturing her. I remember as a child watching this and beginning to scream as my mother's cries of pain rang across the town, red painting the wall as my mother attempted to escape. Then, he aimed three more stabbings at what would kill her- her stomach, her neck- and finally, her heart. I watched as my mother- who was still alive, somehow, collapsed to the ground. The officer kicked her against the wall as hard as he could. Then, my mother died, the entire area within two feet of her a dark red.  
They called it an execution.  
I called it murder.  
My mother had taken gold from the shopkeeper of the local apothecary, and sold it to some pirates. Such a crime is punished by death. There is no specialized method of execution like other places- here, they just give an officer a knife and tell him to kill the person in the back. The police officers can do whatever they like after that. They just have to kill them.  
That man is probably the only person I truly hate. I probably would've forgiven him had he simply cut my mother's neck or stabbed her heart. That would've been a swift death, and it was part of his job to execute the guilty. But that man deliberately tortured her- she was not deserving of it. And then he gave me a smirk and bid me off, as if I hadn't watched the only one who loved me be brutally murdered in front of me!  
Men like that deserve to die.  
I heard the hissing of the evil serpent again. I hadn't realized it, but I had been crying through the vision of my mothers murder. The snake made a strange noise almost reminiscent of a laugh. I felt a flare of anger at the cobra- how dare it tease me when I was obviously emotionally hurt! I calm myself down. It was very dark and you usually don't make much noise when you cry- maybe the snake didn't realize you were upset. There's not even any guarantee that it knew I had the vision. But it didn't work too well. The excuses sounded like a lot of crap to me.  
When I was trying to convince myself not to dislike the snake so much, it had slithered closer to me. It drew it's head back and hissed.  
It struck my arm. First, there wasn't much pain, only about as much as a bee sting. Then, I screamed with pain as my arm felt as if it had been impaled with an icicle. The pain spread from my arm to the rest of my body, and it felt as if the stinging, burning, cold, sharp icicle that had impaled my arm was now going through the rest of my body, ripping me to shreds but somehow still alive. Then, my muscles began twitching on their own. The incredible pain from that one small bite...  
My blood had spilled from my arm onto the ground. The sleeve of the shirt I was wearing became heavy, wet, and warm. I couldn't move. I felt like throwing up. I just lay there.  
_Close your eyessssss, hero._ The snake told me.  
She lunged at me and bit my neck.

I awoke from my nightmare, panting. I was used to dying in dreams- I almost always got nightmares- but I never felt pain. The incredible physical and emotional torture of that dream was terrifying.  
I begin walking towards Lenori's room... I felt something warm trickle down my arm as I walked towards the Greencloak seer's room. I looked at my sleeve, and noticed that a patch of fabric was darker than the rest. I rolled up my sleeve to see two gashes in my arm, exactly where the snake had bitten me. They were bleeding heavily. I looked my hand and saw a brown dried substance underneath my nails. I had inflicted the damage on myself. My heart began to race. What's going on? Who was the snake? Why did it hurt so much? How did I harm myself that badly? I ran as fast as I could towards Lenori's room.  
I wasn't paying attention and slammed against Lenori's door. This made my damaged arm hurt badly. I rolled down my sleeve and clutched my wound. I heard footsteps from inside the room- I must have woken Lenori up. I quickly wiped off the blood on the door and walked in.  
"Lenori I am so so sorry! I was coming here in a rush and I slammed into the door! But I really need to talk to you!" I said. I began biting the nails on my right hand (the one with no blood on it).  
The seer walked groggily over to me. "What is it? It's past midnight."  
"Lenori, I _know_ it's past midnight. I had a nightmare." I told Lenori.  
She sighed, likely thinking that I was overreacting. I have nightmares all the time, though. I know one worthy of attention when I see one. Or... maybe she's just tired. "OK, what happened."  
I began telling her about my dream- the giant cobra, the image of my mother's death, and finally, the part where the snake killed me.  
Lenori was shocked. Despite the fact that her face didn't portray much emotion other than the fact that she was tired, I could tell. "Did the snake mention her name?"  
This got me both scared and suspicious. "No... and... I never actually mentioned that it sounded like a she. But it did."  
Her expression turned from surprise to fear. "_What?_" She yelled with great urgency. "We have to tell Olvan! Warn the other Greencloaks!"  
Lenori grabbed my right arm, right where my gashes were. I winced as the pain, which had faded, came back again. She ran through the door, dragging me with her. I did mumble that it hurt to hold me there, but I knew she was trying to help me. Looking outside, I noticed that the sun was barely rising. I wonder when I woke up from the nightmare- it couldn't have been more than an hour ago. Anyway, the Greencloaks will be up soon. We burst through the elaborately decorated door to the leader's room. Olvan was already fully clothed and pouring some Niloan coffee for himself- I remembered hearing several jokes about Olvan's caffeine addiction as I walked through the halls of Greenhaven castle. Olvan looked very surprised to see Lenori and I- a less than important random Greencloak girl- in his room, with nothing but nightgowns on. Lenori began screaming about my dream and the mysterious snake. Olvan replied with something about training and an announcement... I wasn't listening well. One of my faults. I have the attention span of a goldfish. Lenori sent me back in my room to get ready. She told me that she'd escort me to training soon...


	4. Chapter 4 (Blizz)

I traveled back to Greenhaven, silently brooding upon the dream. Were they really trying to kill me? We rode across the moss and ivy draped cobble-stoned bridge, the horses hooves clopping upon the stone. The sun rose bathing are faces as we waited for the massive gates to be opened by the guards.  
"Blizz?" I heard my friend ask.  
I looked over sharply at Plat. "Yes?"  
"Are you all right? You seem to be bothered by something..."  
"Nothing, just had a dream last night." I replied quickly.  
Plat rode closer, a look of curiosity on his face. "Wait, you had a dream? I had one to! I was in a garden. And a snake killed me."  
"My dream was of no importance." I said curtly as the gates opened. So Plat had, had a dream too... And it had been about a snake, the lady in his dream had, had snake-like eyes. I began to get somewhat suspicious. Could the two dreams be related?  
Riding carefully to the stables, we dismounted, and rubbed down the horses, removing the harness and saddle. I looked suspiciously at several Greencloaks. I had never trusted them, and that dream had only deepened my distrust.I walked into Greenhaven, heading to the feasting hall for breakfast. Plat and I had a brief discussion about the dreams, then dropped the conversation altogether. As I sat down, taking a wedge of cheese, and a slice of meat and bread for my breakfast. Opposite of me, Rabbit was downing waffles so fast I couldn't believe.  
Halfway through the meal, Olvan stepped up at the head of the hall.  
"I would like to report something" His voice boomed across the room, heads turned his way, and sound died down. "I want anyone that has had a dream or nightmare about a snake to report to me and Lenori. Thank you for your consideration." He bowed his white streaked head, and stepped out of the hall.  
"Something's up. Lenori's worried about something due to snakes." I muttered to Plat and Lotus. "Plat, you should report to him, you mentioned that you had a nightmare, right? I'll go with you, come on." I said, standing up and stepping over the bench. Plat swung his legs out, and stood beside me.  
I followed behind Plat, my hand resting subconsciously on the hilt of my sword. Plat opened Lenori's door, who looked up from talking to several other people, all teens or younger children.  
We waited for are turn and when it finally came, Plat stepped forward first.  
"What's your name?" Lenori asked, looking tired and haggard.  
"I'm called Plat." He told her.  
"And what was your dream about?"  
"My dream was of me in a garden, and a snake killed me." Plat whispered.  
"Come to me if you have any more dreams, okay?"  
"Yes, Lenori." Plat assured.  
She turned to me. "What was your nightmare, Blizz?"  
"I didn't have one, I just came to accompany Plat." I informed her.  
"That's odd, everyone under the age of eighteen has had a nightmare, or dream. Why are you the exception?" She said, her eyes narrowing.  
I knew that she was trying to find some reason, some proof that I was lying, but I kept my face blank. I didn't trust her either.  
"Maybe that's because I'm not a child." I said staring her straight in the eye.  
"Alright. Olvan wants to see you by the way in the War room." I nodded and we stepped out of the room.  
"See you later Plat." I said, nodding and setting off down the hallway towards the "War Room", where most battle strategies are planned out.  
After ten minutes of walking through winding stone hallways, I arrived at the door. Opening it, I found Olvan and the senior military leaders of the Greencloaks gathered around a table.  
"Glad you could come, Blizz, I want to discuss some military tactics to you. I think you know the people I have gathered here today. Bastol, Jievan, and John are currently present. Lenori had another vision that the Conquerors might be attempting to conquer more Zhongese land."  
I had guessed correctly, that they were behind the source of all this hype.  
"We are reinforcing the southern Zhong Fortress, with two hundred Greencloaks-"  
"No, don't do that, have them guarding the shipping lines in the Southern Seas, and our trade is more important then a single fortress. Alert the Zhongese Govern-ment and have them send soldiers to their sealine fortresses." I suddenly realized that I was interrupting Olvan."Oh, sorry, go on." I hastily apologized at my disrespect for our leader.  
One of the generals -Bastol- chuckled. "The boy has a good tactical mind."  
Olvan continued to lay his plans out in detail, when he finished, he turned to me and said.  
"Those were good suggestions. But now I need you to train a new recruit." I nodded.  
"I can do that." Olvan smiled.  
I left the company of the war leaders and headed down to the main training hall. A single recruit under the name Opal, the same girl that I had analyzed earlier was in the hall. I spent the afternoon, drilling her, but I sent her to the nurse due to her incompetence. I spent the evening pouring over texts from the First Conqueor war. Carrying a torch, I walked through the halls, towards my room. I slid off my boots, and flopped onto the bed, I fell asleep within seconds, my sword gripped in my hand.

My eyes opened, but I wasn't in my bed, I was on top of a mountain. I looked around, searching for something, then I saw her. Walking silently up the mountain, adorned with light, she was like a goddess.  
"You never told me your name, little one." She said as if chiding a small child. In the back of my mind anger flared, but I was too mesmerized with her beauty to react.  
"My name is Blizz." The words sprang out of my mouth unbidden.  
"That's better, isn't it? Would you mind telling me about why you distrust the Greencloaks?" I struggled for several seconds, my urge to obey battling with my secrecy, and sense of alarm.  
"I can't tell you," I finally choked out. Alarm bells were ringing in the small part of my mind not taken over. Athon's snake-like eyes narrowed.  
"Yes, you can tell me."  
My last bit of resistance broke and I explained exactly why I didn't trust them.


	5. Chapter 5 (Opal)

Training. Today was my first day, and my mentor happened to be the boy who was staring at me the day of my nightmare at mealtime. Apparently, he is called "Blizz" (I have no idea if that is actually his name or simply a nickname- and probably never will). He's a decent mentor-he knows how to explain things well, is good at his craft and obviously is confident about what he does- he's just very intimidating. He isn't actually a huge person- his frame is that of an ordinary person- but his lack of patience, skill at swordsmanship, and fiery personality doesn't exactly make it to the top of my "Passive" list. He judges- a bit like me- but while my judging is mostly empathetic, to understand a person, his is mostly to... how to put this? Weigh people. Calibrate them. Find their weaknesses and strengths. And possibly exploit them?  
Blizz was teaching me a lesson in resourcefulness- a common Greencloak training session is to place common objects in the room, and send armed Greencloaks to attack the trainees. They would then use the objects they found to fight- be it a chair, a napkin, or a spoon. I looked around the room at my options- there was a table, a chair, a few forks, and a bed sheet. Blizz, who would be attacking, was waiting outside the room. I wasn't allowed to pick up a weapon until he came in, nor was I able to move from the spot I was in, as moving closer to a weapon would be the same as anticipating an attack, which would never actually happen with a real ambush (by definition, one cannot expect an ambush). So, as of now, I would just have to wait.  
After a couple of minutes of waiting, Blizz burst through the door with a wooden training sword- equipping him with any decent sword would likely end up with me dead- and attacked. I quickly ran over to the table, taking note of it's flimsy top, and jumped on top. The surface snapped, and I grabbed the leg with the least amount of wood on top to use as a weapon. I began attempting to block Blizz's blows with his sword, taking advantage of the fact that I had a much smaller build than him, being both younger and a generally wispy person. Surprisingly, I did manage to intercept most of his blows- though the occasional sword did hit me.  
Several minutes of dueling had passed, and Blizz had backed me into a corner. He had taken note of positioning is body in such a way that I couldn't slip past- which had happened a couple times before- and most of the table leg I had been using as a weapon had been cut down.  
"You realize there's only one way out of this." He said.  
"Of course I do," I reply. "I'm not an idiot."  
"OK then." Blizz told me. "Try to hit me."  
Throughout the entire training session, I had not even attempted to lay a single hit on Blizz. This seemed to have gotten him a little annoyed, and tried to force me into a situation where offensive tactics are necessary several times... however, I always managed to get out without hitting him. I could tell that Blizz thought this important- his battle strategy seems to be almost completely offensive (however, I haven't tried to hit him, so defensive tactics aren't necessary)- but, personally, trying to harm an ally in a training session sounds rather stupid.  
Blizz lost patience and began to strike me with the sword. "Come on! Have you not been looking at me this entire time? You have to have learned ONE move!"  
My side stung as his sword repeatedly hit me. I grunted as one of his blows landed on my arm, which had been wrapped in a bandage. One of the nurses told me that I had a slight infection- but that I should not be worried. She also told me that none of the other children who had nightmares self-harmed in their sleep, which they found odd, especially after I told them that the wounds matched the ones that the snake inflicted upon me in my dream, as "the snake killed everyone". With a single fluid movement, Blizz knocked the weapon out of my hand. Twisting, he spun reversing the sword, and slamming it directly into my nose. I fell back tears filling my eyes, blood pouring from my nose.  
"Your nose is not broken, I didn't hit you hard enough for that." Blizz said coldly. "I do not tolerate incompetence."  
"Ow." I replied. I was somewhat tempted to use profanity, but the last time I used that was in Amaya (under somewhat similar circumstances) when I _wasn't_ in a training session. So I used an annoyed. "That hurt!"  
I suppose that Blizz's attack on me was reasonable, as it was his job, as well as what I signed up for. And I did need discipline, refusing my mentor like that, especially for such an essential and fair request, but... it hurt. _A lot._ Blizz informed me that the training session was over. I walked over to the bed sheet and made a motion as if to rip it. He nodded, and I tore of a bit of the weak fabric to stop the flow of blood. The bed sheet also happened to be white- nope, not thinking about poetic _bed sheets._ The stupidity of such a thought is quite impressive. No, poetic blood-stained fabric thoughts will be a one-time thing. As will this thought about how I am not going to think about poetic bed sheets and inadvertently doing so. Nice job, Opal. Nice priorities.

I had retreated to the library. For the most part, my nose had stopped bleeding, but occasionally a drop will fall on the book or scroll. Right now I am reading the scroll that I was reading just before I had my nightmare. Tellun's grace, I can't believe this is part 1. This is the longest scroll I have ever read! But it is quite amusing.  
Lenori walked into the library. "Oh," She said, immediately spotting me (I was seated next to the door, and the only person there- wow, I really expected more Greencloaks. Perhaps they are just paranoid about the snake problem. "I am here to research. Perhaps you would like to help?" She explained.  
I nodded and put down my scroll. "Alright."  
"OK, look for "Gerathon". That's the name of the snake you saw." She informed me.  
I went to the back of the library, where the oldest scrolls are kept. I moved to the section marked "G" in an ornate, golden script.  
"Kovo, Cabaro, Ninani," What? I think these were Great Beasts... but Kovo didn't ring a bell. And none of them began with "G"! This is just crap. "Jhi..." NO! "G", AS IN THE LETTER! The organization skills of these Greencloaks are appalling. Well, at least I know for sure that Jhi is, in fact, a Great Beast. Or wait- am I just assuming that Gerathon is a Great Beast? She was a giant talking animal with freaky power... that pretty much covers the criteria. But then again, that could also be a Bile spirit animal, so oh well.  
"Lenori!" I called, wanting her confirmation that Gerathon is in fact a Great Beast. "That snake was a Great Beast, right?"  
The Seer nodded as she scanned the array of books. I shrugged and decided that I might as well keep looking here. Tellun, Mulop... ugh! Gerathon isn't here. All the other Great Beasts, BUT NOT THE ONE THAT STARTS WITH G THAT I AM LOOKING FOR. I am seriously beginning to get fed up with this thing.  
As my eyes skipped over the titles of the books and scrolls, I noticed a "G". "Finally," I muttered.  
But this G wasn't for Gerathon... it was for "Guardian." Didn't Gerathon call me that in my dream? I opened the scroll (which was titled "Guardian and Warrior). Immediately, a wave of dust flew into the air. I coughed and sneezed a couple times. Tellun's Grace, how old was this thing? The edges had been eaten away by mice and mold, and it was almost completely made of words that were too smudged to be legible.  
"Found anything?" I heard Lenori call out.  
Oh, dang it, I had forgotten about Gerathon. Ugh. "No, no luck yet!"  
This scroll seemed important, though, so I read it.  
_The Guardian and the Warrior are a pair. There has never been a reported instance of either where the other was not also mentioned._  
_They could be considered opposites- flip sides of a coin. While the Guardian is peaceful, the Warrior is aggressive. _  
The rest was ripped out, eaten, or smudged. What was this ambiguous crap! This scroll has told me absolutely nothing. "The Guardian is peaceful". No kidding! I rolled up the scroll and put it in it's place. What a disappointment. "Flip side of a coin". What does that even mean? For the love of Mulop, that was a complete waste of time.

It was nightfall. I knew that I had to sleep. But sleep seemed about as pleasant as being stabbed right now. But sleep was important... not to mention that I might be able to learn something from my dreams this time, even if it hurt. It's just a dream, even if I might not realize that while I am dreaming. I close my eyes...

The room was different this time. There was light everywhere- blinding, like the lights before. I closed my eyes as soon as I saw them, then looked down at the floor. I gave a small shriek. The floor was gone! But no, the floor was clear, and there was a large pit below it. I begin to question the safety of standing here. Wait... how will I know if the floor around me is actually a pit? I drop on all four and begin feeling around. No pit. I crawl forward. Suddenly, the lights dim just enough that I can look up without hurting my eyes. Ahead of me, I see something green and gold and shiny. Strange... nothing incredibly creepy has happened yet. I cautiously crawl towards the landscape in front of me. As I get closer, the landscape becomes more clear. It appears to be a garden of some sort, and along with that, treasure. Some sort of paradise. That's awfully silly- who would need money when all you want and need is presented to you for free? Bragging rights? Never really got the point of bragging rights. Yay, I have more money than you, even if the money does absolutely nothing for anyone. But, I have it, so big deal. Oh well. I care much less about money than most. Getting even closer, I saw a beautiful young woman and an older boy.  
Wait... was that Blizz? What was he doing here?  
"The Greencloaks don't trust you," I heard the young woman say. "You are too dangerous, and skillful, and willful to control you like they do the others."  
Who was this young woman? Why was she telling Blizz that?  
"They want to kill you to remove the threat of you." She told him. "Don't trust them..."  
"Why have you come to warn me?" Blizz asked the woman.  
The woman walked closer to Blizz. "Because you are someone who has great importance in the world, and the coming events..."  
Mist wrapped around the woman, and she disappeared. Then, the vision flickered out. Suddenly, a spiral of smoke appeared in front of me, and the lights dimmed to the point where I could barely see. A woman appeared in front of me. Her arms and face were scarred, and she seemed to be of very old age. Her hair had almost completely fallen out, with the exception of a few tops in the front of her head, and when she opened her mouth she was missing several teeth. Her eyes opened.  
_Snake eyes._ The woman's eyes were yellow and her pupils were slits. I screamed at the woman. I don't even believe that she is human- at least not fully.  
"Hello, child." She said eerily. "I sssee that you have sssslept again."  
She had a lisp, and she hissed her "S"s, like a snake.  
"Who are you?" I managed to choke out. I didn't even try to conceal my fear. Such an attempt would be futile.  
She sneered. "That does not matter right now. Who are you?"  
I did not answer. Nor do I ever plan to. I wasn't normally a lucid dreamer- but this woman had essentially told me that I am dreaming. This woman must be some incarnation of Gerathon. So I simply glared at her.  
"Hmm." Said the woman. "You are not easily cracked."  
"Shut up, Gerathon!" I yelled at the woman. "Or whatever you are."  
The woman shook her head. "You really do not want to talk."  
"Yes, because it is abnormal to not trust the snake-eyed witch! Why would I want to tell you who I am?"  
She sighed. For the love of Mulop, why?  
"You were the one talking to Blizz. Right?" I asked.  
The woman shrugged. "In a way."  
I ran towards the woman. The ground opened up beneath me. Stupid! How could I be so foolish. You don't go randomly charging people in dark rooms with a floor with a huge pit underneath! I looked up. Above me were the two red eyes of the snake of my dream before. This time, I did scream profanity. The exact words are not to be written.  
I landed hard on the floor, and my legs gave a sickening crack. My legs began to hurt, and I screamed at the intense aching, stabbing pain at my fractured legs. I heard a hiss. Several other Greencloaks were around me- but they didn't seem to be able to see me. Among these were the kids I sat with at lunch the day of my first nightmare. Gerathon appeared next to the brown-haired girl with the rabbit. I watched in horror as the snake attacked her in the same pattern that the officer attacked my mother, the girl all the while writhing with the cobra's poison. The snake then grabbed her body and bit out the middle of it, then swallowed. She then gobbled up the rest.  
"No..." I whispered as she moved on to the next child, a dark-brown haired, tall girl who looked a bit older than me.  
Gerathon bit her several times on her left side, and seemed to mimic Blizz's attack on me. The girl screamed as she slowly bled to death from the bites on her side, arm and face. Her blood pooled on the floor around her as she lay face-down on the floor. She swallowed her whole. She slithered over to another boy about Blizz's age, but a bit shorter, and Euran looking. Yes, the one that the brown-haired rabbit girl sat next to. She bit his chest, just below his heart, puncturing his lungs. He lay on the floor, coughing up his blood as he slowly drowned in the carrier of the oxygen his lungs supplied. Gerathon must've been full- she ignored his body.  
"No!" I said, staring at the bodies of the slain children.  
I pushed myself up and attempted to run towards the next child, but my legs collapsed beneath me and began hurting again. I then tried a sort of army-crawl, but the snake was too fast. She killed them as soon as she got to them. I closed my eyes and attempted to block out the screams of the hundreds of innocent children being slaughtered, the massacre leaving so much that I felt the warm wet sensation of blood that is now familiar to me. I curled up into a into a ball as I failed to muffle the awful sounds.  
"No," I muttered. "No... stop it... they didn't do anything wrong... leave them alone... hurt me... hurt me... please... please, it's not fair... why can't I help them... hurt me instead..."  
I began sobbing as I watched and listened to the unjust, painful death of many, while not being able to do anything...  
"Kill me, please." I cried.  
Gerathon seemed to be moving the dead bodies closer to me, and forcing me to look at their limp, lifeless bodies, unable to help, nor protect, nor even reassure the children. It wasn't fair.  
"It's not fair!" I screamed. "It's not fair to kill them all! If you want to kill someone, kill me! Leave them alone!"  
The screaming and crying of the desperate Greencloaks echoed through the room, the bodies of the slain piling around me, staring at me with dead eyes. Lacking any weapon, I could not kill myself. I crawled through the heaps of the dead, blood covering every part of me. It was hard to see through the red fluid that covered every part of this place. I flipped over the bodies, looking for any sort of knife or sword, but none seemed to have any. I was forced to endure this entire thing, and there were still several hundred more children to go. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair! I began biting my blood covered nails, not caring about the bitter, salty taste of them. I bit my fingers, once I was at the point where I couldn't bite anymore, and I gradually began to get a small mark on one of my knuckles.  
"Please, please, please, please, please." I cried. "Please, Gerathon. Please please please."  
She continued to torture me... end it now... please.

I woke up, sweating, crying, and with scratches all over my arms and legs. My sheets were, at this point, covered with blood. I slid out of the bed and grabbed the sheets, rolled it up into a ball, and threw it in the trash. That thing was ruined; no salvaging it. It was morning; most people have already woken up. I walked over to the sink in my room and began washing my face. The scratches were not deep, so I didn't think I would need to see the nurse. However, I did wipe my arms and legs with a towel for good measure.  
I changed out of my nightgown and walked outside. Another day, another night, another nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6 (Blizz)

I shut the door behind me firmly. I leaned against the wall, rubbing my hands over my face. I had nearly killed her, only my honor had kept me from murdering her.  
"I'm a Warrior, not an assassin." I muttered to myself. I quickly walked away, not wanting to be seen by anyone. I could almost see Athon in my mind screaming at me for not killing the girl. I had failed her.  
I made my way along a little known path towards the roof of Greenhaven. I needed fresh air. I needed to think. With desperation I broke through the trapdoor, I felt the stone under my hands as I pushed myself lightly onto the roof. Mealtime had left the roof deserted, almost no one came up here anyways, except the people that need quiet to think, such as me. Striding over to the edge, overlooking the gardens, I rested against the railing, my callused palms digging into the old stone. I breathed in deeply through my nose, inhaling the fragnance of the forest, the sea, and the gardens. The forest reached towards me with rich, dark smells. The gardens sent forth their sweet scents. And the salty tang of the rolling, crashing sea, I could taste on my lips.  
Then I vomited. Right over the railing, into the gardens. I fell back onto the stones, my back hitting the moss embedded stone hard enough to bruise my back. The taste of bile was foul and strong in my throat, and a pounding headache demanded my attention. I groaned in misery, and pain and picked myself up off the ground. I was so lucky none of the vomit had landed upon my clothing. I needed water to cleanse my throat. But before I do that, I should do something I haven't done.  
Baring my forearm, I let Japheth out of passive mode, for the first time since, the first dream. His eyes looked almost sad, but with the same fierce loyalty that I had also to him.  
"Hello boy, I'm sorry, that I havent let you out. I've been... troubled, but I know I realize you could have helped me. But I am sorry." I whispered, kneeling next to Japheth. My muscled back against the railing.  
I do not know how long I sat up there, whispering to Japheth, but judging by the sun, at least a few hours. I needed to get to training. Feeling far less burdened, and troubled, decided to go the more dangerous (and far more fun) route off the roof. I reached out my arm to Japheth, who with just a moments hesitation went into passive mode.  
Turning around, I ran to the opposite end of the roof. I jumped lightly off the roof, twisting and catching onto the railings with my fingers. I dropped five feet, catching once again onto torch brackets. Holding on with one hand, and bracing with my legs against the I looked out across the bridge, the only place I felt more free, was when I was swimming.  
Training can wait, I need a swim. I casually dropped onto a balcony, startling a Greencloak out of meditation then was gone. Swinging over the railing and dropping to land upon a narrow ridge. With a single hand gripping the torch bracket, I swung through a open window, landing in front of a burly man who jumped back in surprise. His hawk screeching. A moments later I was out another window, jumping the remaining fifteen feet to the ground. I landed instantaneously rolling, then up running, the castle guards drawing their weapons in surprise. As I ran across the bridge, I tore off my sword belt, and shirt. Then gripping them in one hand, still running, I dived off the bridge.  
Arms stretched out still gripping my sword, I plummeted off the bridge. At least a fifty-foot drop. I hit the water, smoothly slicing through the waves.  
The cold sea water was a shock to me at first, then my body adjusted. I dived down, deeper. Gripping onto a rock outcropping, I drew my sword. I was surrounded by fish of all types and sizes. With a single stab, I speared half a dozen meaty fish swimming alongside of me. Quite a feat with the water dampening, and slowing all my blows.  
I swam back to the surface my lungs complaining slightly. I pushed my wet hair out of my face. I felt wonderful, refreshed, cleansed. I swam to the bed rock that held Greenhaven from the seas deadly clutches, gripping the sword with the six quite heavy fish on it in my right hand, I began to scale the cliff.  
It was rather difficult, being able to use one hand to clamber up the steep cliff. Luckily there was a lot of jagged ledges, and outcroppings for me to grip upon. Though it was slippery from the sea spray I hauled myself up onto the top of the bedrock, several small cuts showing on my muscled body. I pulled on my soaked shirt with difficulty, and made my way into Greenhaven, towards the kitchen.  
I gave the fish to a smiling, rather fat women with a cat sitting on her shoulder, then headed to training.  
I felt calmer then I had been since I had received the dreams, now I needed to sharpen my skills.  
I was just in time, my instructor was waiting, with a small smile on his face.  
"Time to train, Blizz." My eyes flicked over to the two guards training at the other side of the hall, in full combat gear. Why were they here? No one ever used this training hall except him.  
My instructor started a simple warmup. A quick twenty strike routine. Then we started the real training.  
We had only exchanged several blows, when I smashed my instructors steel blade out of his hand. I knew what there plan was, to keep me distracted while the guards killed me from behind. Well I wasn't about to let that happen. Athon had warned me. I wrapped my arm around the instructors neck, and with one quick movement, snapped it. I whirled as the guards yelled in surprise and charged at me bringing out their spirit animals. A snake, and a weasel.  
Bringing forth Japheth, I smoothly sidestepped, my reflexes and strength heightened, as the guards spear stabbed at me. As I spun I swung the sword, slashing it right into the guards throat. Blood splattered the floor, and on me as the guards head rolled on the ground. The guards headless corpse crumpled to the floor. Barely pausing to comprehend what I had just done. I drew a knife with my left hand, ducking as the weasel flew over my head, and threw it with all my force straight at the remaining guard. The guard desperately blocked the knife with his axe, and charged at me. Slashed the snake in half as it launched straight at me, I parried the axe, then the weasel sprang at me again. This time I couldn't dodge. The weasels teeth sunk into my shoulder, and raked with its claws, tearing my shoulder into a bloody lacerated mess. I smashed the weasel hard enough to hear a crack. Then my right shoulder useless and racking me with pain. I threw my sword into my left hand. Luckily I had trained just as much with the left hand as I had with the right.  
The guard swung it with skill, and speed at my waist, just barely missing as I twisted. I side flipped over the next strike, both of my feet landing on the guard. It knocked him to the ground, his axe skittering away. I raised my sword, ready to bring it down.  
"Why are you doing this." The guard choked.  
"Because this would have happened to me." I hissed, bringing the sword down.  
I staggered to my feet, sheathing my sword in the same movement, almost horrified by what I had done. But they would have killed me if I hadn't them. Pushing the door open, I fled down the corridor, a heavily bleeding shoulder draining my strength as I ran.  
"Wait, how did you get injured." A hand grabbed onto my shoulder. I instantly grabbed the hand, twisting out of its grip to maneuver behind the person. I kicked them in the back of the knee, and slammed their head against the stone wall. It all happened in a blink of an eye.  
I had to get to the stables or I was finished, to die upon the Greencloaks sword.  
Up ahead I saw Tarik walking the corridor.  
"Blizz what happened to your shoulder?" Quickening his stride he caught hold of my arm.  
"I was attacked." I groaned feigning weakness and pain, which was incredibly easy to do.  
"Attacked? Attacked by whom?" Tarik said tightening his grip on my uninjured arm.  
I raised my head and stared him straight in the eye.  
"Attacked by Greencloaks." Before he could react, I slammed Tariks head into the stone wall, and backhanded Lumeo as he dove at me.  
Then I heard a bell ringing. The alarm bell. They must have discovered the bodies.  
I ran as fast as I could, I only met two Greencloaks along the way, who I swiftly non-lethally dispatched.  
Blood dripped through my tightly clasped fingers over my shoulder as I staggered into the stable. I barely pulled myself onto the horse, blood loss rendering my weak, soon I would be helpless. Then after that came death. Using my last reserves of strength, I spurred the horse on, sending it into gallop. The gate were just closing when I blew through the guards, and was across the bridge. Several arrows whizzed past my head, as I galloped across the bridge and disappeared into the forest.  
I rode as fast and as far as I could, until I simply could not hold on. I fell from the horse, landing in a shallow stream. I was going to die after all...  
As darkness claimed my vision, I saw a beautiful woman approach me. She looked exactly like the one in my dreams...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
(A/N) Suspense! Drama! Action! This was quite the exciting chapter. Now things are really starting. But I don't want to spoil anything! Hope you've enjoyed the chapter so far!


	7. Chapter 7 (Blizz)

I shut the door behind me firmly. I leaned against the wall, rubbing my hands over my face. I had nearly killed her, only my honor had kept me from murdering her.  
"I'm a Warrior, not an assassin." I muttered to myself. I quickly walked away, not wanting to be seen by anyone. I could almost see Athon in my mind screaming at me for not killing the girl. I had failed her.  
I made my way along a little known path towards the roof of Greenhaven. I needed fresh air. I needed to think. With desperation I broke through the trapdoor, I felt the stone under my hands as I pushed myself lightly onto the roof. Mealtime had left the roof deserted, almost no one came up here anyways, except the people that need quiet to think, such as me. Striding over to the edge, overlooking the gardens, I rested against the railing, my callused palms digging into the old stone. I breathed in deeply through my nose, inhaling the fragnance of the forest, the sea, and the gardens. The forest reached towards me with rich, dark smells. The gardens sent forth their sweet scents. And the salty tang of the rolling, crashing sea, I could taste on my lips.  
Then I vomited. Right over the railing, into the gardens. I fell back onto the stones, my back hitting the moss embedded stone hard enough to bruise my back. The taste of bile was foul and strong in my throat, and a pounding headache demanded my attention. I groaned in misery, and pain and picked myself up off the ground. I was so lucky none of the vomit had landed upon my clothing. I needed water to cleanse my throat. But before I do that, I should do something I haven't done.  
Baring my forearm, I let Japheth out of passive mode, for the first time since, the first dream. His eyes looked almost sad, but with the same fierce loyalty that I had also to him.  
"Hello boy, I'm sorry, that I havent let you out. I've been... troubled, but I know I realize you could have helped me. But I am sorry." I whispered, kneeling next to Japheth. My muscled back against the railing.  
I do not know how long I sat up there, whispering to Japheth, but judging by the sun, at least a few hours. I needed to get to training. Feeling far less burdened, and troubled, decided to go the more dangerous (and far more fun) route off the roof. I reached out my arm to Japheth, who with just a moments hesitation went into passive mode.  
Turning around, I ran to the opposite end of the roof. I jumped lightly off the roof, twisting and catching onto the railings with my fingers. I dropped five feet, catching once again onto torch brackets. Holding on with one hand, and bracing with my legs against the I looked out across the bridge, the only place I felt more free, was when I was swimming.  
Training can wait, I need a swim. I casually dropped onto a balcony, startling a Greencloak out of meditation then was gone. Swinging over the railing and dropping to land upon a narrow ridge. With a single hand gripping the torch bracket, I swung through a open window, landing in front of a burly man who jumped back in surprise. His hawk screeching. A moments later I was out another window, jumping the remaining fifteen feet to the ground. I landed instantaneously rolling, then up running, the castle guards drawing their weapons in surprise. As I ran across the bridge, I tore off my sword belt, and shirt. Then gripping them in one hand, still running, I dived off the bridge.  
Arms stretched out still gripping my sword, I plummeted off the bridge. At least a fifty-foot drop. I hit the water, smoothly slicing through the waves.  
The cold sea water was a shock to me at first, then my body adjusted. I dived down, deeper. Gripping onto a rock outcropping, I drew my sword. I was surrounded by fish of all types and sizes. With a single stab, I speared half a dozen meaty fish swimming alongside of me. Quite a feat with the water dampening, and slowing all my blows.  
I swam back to the surface my lungs complaining slightly. I pushed my wet hair out of my face. I felt wonderful, refreshed, cleansed. I swam to the bed rock that held Greenhaven from the seas deadly clutches, gripping the sword with the six quite heavy fish on it in my right hand, I began to scale the cliff.  
It was rather difficult, being able to use one hand to clamber up the steep cliff. Luckily there was a lot of jagged ledges, and outcroppings for me to grip upon. Though it was slippery from the sea spray I hauled myself up onto the top of the bedrock, several small cuts showing on my muscled body. I pulled on my soaked shirt with difficulty, and made my way into Greenhaven, towards the kitchen.  
I gave the fish to a smiling, rather fat women with a cat sitting on her shoulder, then headed to training.  
I felt calmer then I had been since I had received the dreams, now I needed to sharpen my skills.  
I was just in time, my instructor was waiting, with a small smile on his face.  
"Time to train, Blizz." My eyes flicked over to the two guards training at the other side of the hall, in full combat gear. Why were they here? No one ever used this training hall except him.  
My instructor started a simple warmup. A quick twenty strike routine. Then we started the real training.  
We had only exchanged several blows, when I smashed my instructors steel blade out of his hand. I knew what there plan was, to keep me distracted while the guards killed me from behind. Well I wasn't about to let that happen. Athon had warned me. I wrapped my arm around the instructors neck, and with one quick movement, snapped it. I whirled as the guards yelled in surprise and charged at me bringing out their spirit animals. A snake, and a weasel.  
Bringing forth Japheth, I smoothly sidestepped, my reflexes and strength heightened, as the guards spear stabbed at me. As I spun I swung the sword, slashing it right into the guards throat. Blood splattered the floor, and on me as the guards head rolled on the ground. The guards headless corpse crumpled to the floor. Barely pausing to comprehend what I had just done. I drew a knife with my left hand, ducking as the weasel flew over my head, and threw it with all my force straight at the remaining guard. The guard desperately blocked the knife with his axe, and charged at me. Slashed the snake in half as it launched straight at me, I parried the axe, then the weasel sprang at me again. This time I couldn't dodge. The weasels teeth sunk into my shoulder, and raked with its claws, tearing my shoulder into a bloody lacerated mess. I smashed the weasel hard enough to hear a crack. Then my right shoulder useless and racking me with pain. I threw my sword into my left hand. Luckily I had trained just as much with the left hand as I had with the right.  
The guard swung it with skill, and speed at my waist, just barely missing as I twisted. I side flipped over the next strike, both of my feet landing on the guard. It knocked him to the ground, his axe skittering away. I raised my sword, ready to bring it down.  
"Why are you doing this." The guard choked.  
"Because this would have happened to me." I hissed, bringing the sword down.  
I staggered to my feet, sheathing my sword in the same movement, almost horrified by what I had done. But they would have killed me if I hadn't them. Pushing the door open, I fled down the corridor, a heavily bleeding shoulder draining my strength as I ran.  
"Wait, how did you get injured." A hand grabbed onto my shoulder. I instantly grabbed the hand, twisting out of its grip to maneuver behind the person. I kicked them in the back of the knee, and slammed their head against the stone wall. It all happened in a blink of an eye.  
I had to get to the stables or I was finished, to die upon the Greencloaks sword.  
Up ahead I saw Tarik walking the corridor.  
"Blizz what happened to your shoulder?" Quickening his stride he caught hold of my arm.  
"I was attacked." I groaned feigning weakness and pain, which was incredibly easy to do.  
"Attacked? Attacked by whom?" Tarik said tightening his grip on my uninjured arm.  
I raised my head and stared him straight in the eye.  
"Attacked by Greencloaks." Before he could react, I slammed Tariks head into the stone wall, and backhanded Lumeo as he dove at me.  
Then I heard a bell ringing. The alarm bell. They must have discovered the bodies.  
I ran as fast as I could, I only met two Greencloaks along the way, who I swiftly non-lethally dispatched.  
Blood dripped through my tightly clasped fingers over my shoulder as I staggered into the stable. I barely pulled myself onto the horse, blood loss rendering my weak, soon I would be helpless. Then after that came death. Using my last reserves of strength, I spurred the horse on, sending it into gallop. The gate were just closing when I blew through the guards, and was across the bridge. Several arrows whizzed past my head, as I galloped across the bridge and disappeared into the forest.  
I rode as fast and as far as I could, until I simply could not hold on. I fell from the horse, landing in a shallow stream. I was going to die after all...  
As darkness claimed my vision, I saw a beautiful woman approach me. She looked exactly like the one in my dreams...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
(A/N) Suspense! Drama! Action! This was quite the exciting chapter. Now things are really starting. But I don't want to spoil anything! Hope you've enjoyed the chapter so far!


End file.
